The Giants and Jets faced a barrage of criticism Monday over their lawsuit seeking to prevent a revival of the American Dream Meadowlands complex, with the would-be developer and political leaders saying the long-dormant $3.7 billion project would create thousands of badly needed jobs for the region.

“The lawsuit filed by the professional sports teams is an insult to every New Jerseyan who hoped to find work at American Dream Meadowlands,” said Alan Marcus, a spokesman for Triple Five, the developer. “It is an assault on the taxpayers of New Jersey who would benefit from the revenue to be generated by this complex.”

Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan pointed to a 40 percent unemployment rate in the area’s building trades, adding that the National Football League teams “have put Bergen County’s economic growth at risk.”

“[American Dream] will create an economic ripple with service jobs and venues including hotels, which will pay additional taxes,” Donovan said in a statement.

And East Rutherford Mayor James Cassella said those who would gain employment from the project “are many of the same people who paid thousands of dollars to buy personal seat licenses for the Giants and Jets.”

The salvos against the teams came just five days shy of the 10th anniversary of the date when the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority formally asked real-estate developers for proposals to redevelop the then-Continental Arena site.

A spokesman for the Sports Authority declined to comment Monday, as did a spokeswoman for the Giants and Jets.

Triple Five has been trying to finalize plans this summer for nearly $2 billion in financing while also gaining the last environmental permits required to revive construction. The developers have said portions of the retail sector could open before the end of 2013, although their planned indoor water and amusement parks would not be operating in time for the February 2014 Super Bowl.

Triple Five, which runs the Mall of America in Minnesota, revealed plans last year to add the water and amusement parks in a 639,000-square-foot expansion that would connect to the partially built entertainment and retail complex.

The 19-page lawsuit by the Giants and Jets, filed Friday in state Superior Court, requests an injunction to prevent a resumption of construction on the stalled project. The teams cited a 2006 settlement of a previous lawsuit that requires their written consent before the project developers can go ahead with modifications that “would have an adverse effect” on the game-day experience of football fans.

The lawsuit predicts that the project would “clog the complex's already congested transportation networks and create a transportation nightmare.”

Triple Five officials have countered that any traffic increase would be negligible, in part because of extensive use by patrons of a $185 million rail link to the Meadowlands Sports Complex that opened in 2009.

“In suing the State of New Jersey and our company, the teams have revealed they want to exert monopolistic control over the entire complex,” Marcus said. “They want to tell us when and how we can operate our business. I am sure they would not want us to tell them when they can play their football games. Our year round entertainment development is perfectly compatible with their occasional use of their stadium.”

Marcus said the company remains “committed to moving the project forward.”

“They should abandon this annoyance litigation,” Marcus said, before tweaking the teams' collective insistence on retaining their previous names in spite of having each played in New Jersey for more than 25 years.

“Even though their uniforms say New York, they need to consider what is best for New Jersey, its citizens and taxpayers,” said Marcus, who has served as an unpaid adviser to Donovan on a number of issues. Jeanne Baratta, Donovan’s chief of staff, said there was “no collaboration” between Donovan and Marcus on their respective criticism of the teams.

Donovan in her statement again criticized the fact that the county did not get any tax revenue from the teams’ sale of hundreds of millions of dollars of Personal Seat Licenses before the $1.6 billion MetLife Stadium opened in 2010. She said she would “take immediate steps to review tax breaks” received by the teams to make sure they “no longer continue to rip off Bergen County taxpayers.”

Cassella, mayor since 1996, said the teams “have never paid their fair share of property taxes” while instead making annual payments in lieu of taxes to the borough of $1.3 million.

“They don’t want to be good neighbors — they just want to exploit New Jersey,” said Cassella, who like Donovan is a Republican.

The office of Governor Christie — a Republican who has endorsed the project — did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

The Giants and Jets faced a barrage of criticism Monday over their lawsuit seeking to prevent a revival of the American Dream Meadowlands complex, with the would-be developer and political leaders saying the long-dormant $3.7 billion project would create thousands of badly needed jobs for the region.

“The lawsuit filed by the professional sports teams is an insult to every New Jerseyan who hoped to find work at American Dream Meadowlands,” said Alan Marcus, a spokesman for Triple Five, the developer. “It is an assault on the taxpayers of New Jersey who would benefit from the revenue to be generated by this complex.”

Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan pointed to a 40 percent unemployment rate in the area’s building trades, adding that the National Football League teams “have put Bergen County’s economic growth at risk.”

“[American Dream] will create an economic ripple with service jobs and venues including hotels, which will pay additional taxes,” Donovan said in a statement.

And East Rutherford Mayor James Cassella said those who would gain employment from the project “are many of the same people who paid thousands of dollars to buy personal seat licenses for the Giants and Jets.”

The salvos against the teams came just five days shy of the 10th anniversary of the date when the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority formally asked real-estate developers for proposals to redevelop the then-Continental Arena site.

A spokesman for the Sports Authority declined to comment Monday, as did a spokeswoman for the Giants and Jets.

Triple Five has been trying to finalize plans this summer for nearly $2 billion in financing while also gaining the last environmental permits required to revive construction. The developers have said portions of the retail sector could open before the end of 2013, although their planned indoor water and amusement parks would not be operating in time for the February 2014 Super Bowl.

Triple Five, which runs the Mall of America in Minnesota, revealed plans last year to add the water and amusement parks in a 639,000-square-foot expansion that would connect to the partially built entertainment and retail complex.

The 19-page lawsuit by the Giants and Jets, filed Friday in state Superior Court, requests an injunction to prevent a resumption of construction on the stalled project. The teams cited a 2006 settlement of a previous lawsuit that requires their written consent before the project developers can go ahead with modifications that “would have an adverse effect” on the game-day experience of football fans.

The lawsuit predicts that the project would “clog the complex's already congested transportation networks and create a transportation nightmare.”

Triple Five officials have countered that any traffic increase would be negligible, in part because of extensive use by patrons of a $185 million rail link to the Meadowlands Sports Complex that opened in 2009.

“In suing the State of New Jersey and our company, the teams have revealed they want to exert monopolistic control over the entire complex,” Marcus said. “They want to tell us when and how we can operate our business. I am sure they would not want us to tell them when they can play their football games. Our year round entertainment development is perfectly compatible with their occasional use of their stadium.”

Marcus said the company remains “committed to moving the project forward.”

“They should abandon this annoyance litigation,” Marcus said, before tweaking the teams' collective insistence on retaining their previous names in spite of having each played in New Jersey for more than 25 years.

“Even though their uniforms say New York, they need to consider what is best for New Jersey, its citizens and taxpayers,” said Marcus, who has served as an unpaid adviser to Donovan on a number of issues. Jeanne Baratta, Donovan’s chief of staff, said there was “no collaboration” between Donovan and Marcus on their respective criticism of the teams.

Donovan in her statement again criticized the fact that the county did not get any tax revenue from the teams’ sale of hundreds of millions of dollars of Personal Seat Licenses before the $1.6 billion MetLife Stadium opened in 2010. She said she would “take immediate steps to review tax breaks” received by the teams to make sure they “no longer continue to rip off Bergen County taxpayers.”

Cassella, mayor since 1996, said the teams “have never paid their fair share of property taxes” while instead making annual payments in lieu of taxes to the borough of $1.3 million.

“They don’t want to be good neighbors — they just want to exploit New Jersey,” said Cassella, who like Donovan is a Republican.

The office of Governor Christie — a Republican who has endorsed the project — did not respond to a request for comment Monday.